Trill
The Trill are a humanoid species native to the planet Trill. A small percentage (roughly 1 in every 10 Trill) co-exists with a sentient symbiotic organism known as a symbiont inside their bodies. The resulting joined Trill have personalities which are a synthesis of the two beings including each others memories. This way, the joined being gains all of the knowledge and skills of the symbionts previous hosts. Physiology The Trill species are distinguished by two row of spots going down each side of their body, from forehead to toe. Their skin colour could vary. One of the main neurotraansmitters in the Trill brain was the Isoboramine. Joined Trill were also extremely allergic to insect bites; because the biomechanical connections between the host and the symbiont can not tolerate the reaction caused by most invests venom. Trills are also known to have cold hands. The few Trill that are given an Symbiont are typically joined in thir early years to mid-twenties.the physical process of being joined is irreversible, leading to the hosts death within hours if the symbionts is removed. After being joined for 93 hours both the host and Symbiont are dependant on each other. The brain of the Trill has two Cerebral Nuclei and two different brain wave patterns. Society Despite the relatively unusual nature of being a joined species, that aspect of their culture was widely unknown until 2367, when the Odan symbiont had to be given to a new host during the middle of tense negotiations on Pellar Zel. Such a public example of the dual nature of the Trill brought to the forefront what had previously been a very private matter to the Trill for several millennia. In contrast to the greater revelation of their nature, the Trill are not a secretive race. To them, the joined nature of their culture is normal and not something they would think to comment on without prompting. Indeed, joined Trill can be seen as particularly genial and many have served in the Federation as distinguished ambassadors, including Odan and Dax. Jadzia Dax joked that the Trill don't look for romance the way Humans do. They consider it quite a nuisance and view it as a weakness of the young. Although A Trill host may have romantic feelings on occasion, it is the symbiont's wish to live on a higher plane and try to rise above those sorts of temptations. Trill law forbids re-association between subsequent hosts of joined persons, whose symbionts were romantically involved in their previous hosts, as the main purpose of their transfer of symbionts is to experience new things in life. Grill who are found guilty of re-association are expelled from Trill society, meaning that their symbiont will die with their current host. The Trill are a technologically advanced species and the Trill Science Ministry is the leading centre of learning and experimentation. Joining On average, only three hundred symbionts are available for hosting each year and about one thousand Trill apply for joining. Because their are many more humanoid Trill than symbionts, prospective hosts are weeded out by a demanding selection process, overseen by the Symbiosis Commission. The competition for the few symbionts is fierce and attracts the brightest and most highly motivated of the Trill society. Often the would be hosts excel in their chosen fields and it's not uncommon for them to hold several degrees of distinctions prior to their joining. Prospective hosts may eventually become initiates under the supervision of a Field Docent, a joined Trill who evaluates the prospective host's suitability for joining and makes a recommendation to the Commission. A negative recommendation usually means that the initiate is cut from the joking program. Common belief in Trill society holds that only one in every thousand Trill make acceptable hosts. In fact, this figure is vastly understated, and nearly half of the Trill population is suitable for joining. The myth is perpetuated very carefully, though, in order to avoid widespread chaos which would arise if the information were made public, since the symbionts would become, essentially, objects to be fought over, as people fought to gain the few priced symbionts. Unless the joined Trill objects, a prospective host may request a specific symbiont. If a host is weak, the personality of the symbiont will overwhelm it. The joined Trill has several tools at their disposal for dealing with various aspects of their previous hosts. The telepathic ceremony of zhian'tara allows a current host to divest the symbiont of the personality and all the memories of a previous host, which are temporarily hosted in volunteers. The transferring process is performed and supervised by a symbiont Guardian, an unjoined Trill telepath. The ceremony creates a chance for closure by having the new host address the previous hosts directly as a means of distinguishing their voices and cementing the sense of finality of its latest transition. Similarly, the Rite of Emergence can focus the voice of a single previous host among the memories of the other, allowing for a more direct converse in times of need for the current host. The zhian'tara ritual is roughly similar to the Vulcan fal-tor-pan ritual, since both enable the respective species to perform a synaptic pattern displacement, the transfer of what could be considered as a soul (katra, pagh, etc.).